Family friend charged in abduction, murder of 10-month old in King of Prussia in botched kidnap (With Videos)

A man described by authorities as a friend of the family is in Montgomery County Prison facing murder charges for the alleged killing of a 10-month-old baby and her grandmother in a botched kidnapping for ransom scheme.

Raghunandan Yandamuri, 26, of King of Prussia was arraigned on two counts each of first and second degree murder in front of District Judge James Gallagher in Bridgeport on Friday.

Along with the murder charges, Yandamuri is also facing kidnapping, robbery, abuse of a corpse and theft in connection with the murder of 10-month-old Saanvi Venna and her grandmother, Satayvathi Venna, 61.

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Authorities say that Yandamuri murdered the baby and her grandmother during an attempt to get $50,000 ransom for the child that began Monday.

On Monday, officials announced an amber alert for the missing child. Over the next few days police and the public launched a search for the missing baby. The grandmother was found dead inside her son's apartment at the Marquis apartments at 251 West Dekalb Pike in King of Prussia.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said that during the subsequent search for the missing child that Yandamuri attended vigils and printed fliers asking for help in locating the baby.

"This individual had planned to kidnap Saanvi and he was going to hold her for ransom," Ferman said at a press conference outside the Upper Merion Township's police station.

According to Ferman, investigators found a ransom note inside the apartment.

The type-written note read, "shiva your daughter has been kidnapped. If you report this to cops your daughter will be cut into pieces and found dead. If you inform this to anyone you will find your daughter body parts thrown into your apartment. Our prople (sp) are monitoring all your moves all the time your emails & phones are being traced."

The note goes on to tell the parents that if they want their child back to them they must pay $50,000 by the end of the day.

The letter ends by saying the baby is "starving since morning."

According to Ferman, Yandamuri went to the apartment Monday to kidnap the girl and in the process murdered the grandmother. At Friday's press conference, Ferman said no one else was involved in the kidnapping plot.

The body of the child was found early Friday morning.

According to court documents, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Paul Hoyer determined that Satyavathi Venna died of incised wounds to the neck and chest.

"Dr. Hoyer identified multiple stab wounds to Satyavathi's upper chest and a horizontal, gaping neck wound. The neck wound was so deep that it severed major arteries, her trachea and cut into her vertebrae. Dr. Hoyer also noted defensive injury on the victim's left hand," court documents read.

The ransom note could have helped authorities narrow down a list of suspect to someone the parents might have known well.

Authorities said the first word in the ransom note, shiva, could have come from a name that many people call the father of the murdered child. According to court documents the father's full name is Venkata Konda Siva Prasad Venna. But only relatives and close friends call him Siva. Authorities believe that the note was written to his attention by using the slightly misspelled shiva name that he was often referred to.

Thursday, Raghunandan Yandamuri, whose name was on a list of people who knew of the father as Siva, was interviewed by investigators. Yandamuri told police that he did not know who killed Satyavathi or kidnapped Saanvi. At the same interview, Yandamuri told police that he made a poster with two pictures of Saanvi and printed 150 to 200 of them at work and delivered them to the family for distribution. He also told police that he attended a vigil that was held Wednesday night to support the family.

"Later in the interview, [Yandamuri] admitted that he was lying to the detectives and he admitted that he was responsible for the deaths of both Satyavathi and Saanvi," court papers read.

He went on to tell investigators that he targeted the apartment because he believed that they had money because they were both employed, court documents read.

Yandamuri went on to tell authorities that he went to the apartment and knocked on the door. With a knife in hand he threatened Satyavathi. He then picked up Saanvi with his left arm and Satyavathi came at him. He then said he dropped the baby. That was when he said he stabbed the grandmother.

"Yandamuri said Saanvi began to cry and he stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth to make her stop crying and placed a bath towel around her head to hold the handkerchief in place. He then put her inside a blue suitcase he found in the bedroom. He then took jewelry he found in the apartment and placed that inside the suitcase with Saanvi. He then left apartment C-603. He described how he abandoned Saanvi's body hidden inside the steam room of the men's bathroom, of the gymnasium located inside Marquis Apartment Building A," court documents read.

Outside the district court building in Bridgeport a crowd of people looked on as Yandamuri was brought in and taken out of the court. Many of those in the crowd yelled obscenities at Yandamuri and called him a baby killer.

Inside the courtroom where about a dozen reporters watched as Yandamuri sat for his first court appearance on murder charges, Gallagher told Yandamuri that because he is being charged with a capital offense he would not get bail.

Yandamuri who said he was born in India and is still an Indian citizen was allowed to call the Indian Consulate in New York City. He was not represented by an attorney at the hearing. He was given paperwork for a court appointed attorney if he needs one.

After the hearing, Yandamuri was taken by police to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

His next court appearance is scheduled for next Friday, Nov. 2 in Bridgeport.